NASHVILLE, TN. (Brentwood) - Grammy winning, multi-platinum band Jars of Clay will follow their highly successful 'Redemption Songs & Stories' tour, with a second leg this Fall. Providing audiences with intimate, acoustic performances and the stories behind some of their biggest hits and favorite hymns, the evening promises to hold numerous memorable highlights, especially with the addition of special guests
Chris Rice and Sara Groves, and on selected dates, speaker Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz.
This tour, which kicks off October 6th in Troy, Mi. and will visit 23 cities through Thanksgiving, is in support of the band's most recent release, Redemption Songs. This unique project is a collection of soulful recordings crafted from ancient 18th century hymn texts and spiritual songs. Since debuting at No. 1 on Nielsen SoundScan, it has already produced the No. 1 radio hit 'God Will Lift Up Your Head,' while standing at No 14 on Apple iTunes' Top 100 Albums chart.
Stephen Mason, Jars of Clay's guitarist, comments, 'Recently, we've been touring in a manner that is more intimate in performance and setting and has provided us with a great opportunity to interface with the audience in a way that a big production doesn't. It's simple and invites a communion with the audience that we don't get all the time. These days, that's a big part of what we enjoy about touring. In addition to this intimate setting, we're excited that Chris and Sara will be joining us to be a part of the evening. We look forward to Donald Miller joining us on selected dates, and adding his thoughtful and unique presence to the night, a foreshadowing of more dates to come in the future with Don.'
Eight years ago listeners were introduced to
Chris Rice and his introspective lyrics with his first release Deep Enough to Dream. Since his debut project, he has released four full-length studio projects, in addition to two special instrumental projects and two best-of projects. This August, he is releasing his first studio project in two years on eb+flo/INO Records titled Amusing. In October, Chris will release a full-length Live DVD, Inside Out, which was taped in his home and backyard.
Chris Rice has been awarded two Dove Awards (Male Vocalist of the Year, Special Event Album of the Year) along with nominations for ten Dove Awards. Throughout his highly acclaimed career, Rice has sold more than 1.5 million units and has penned 11 No. 1 radio singles.
Since her debut release in 2001, Conversations, Sara Groves has become one of the most critically-acclaimed artists in the Christian music industry, receiving rave reviews across the board for each recording by the likes of Billboard, and consistently topping year-end reader's polls and album of the year nods from the likes of CCM magazine, Christianity Today online and more. Her latest, Add To The Beauty, will release October 4, 2005 and promises to be another creative _expression of faith and relationships. Candidly truthful and compassionately hopeful, this new project echoes Sara's first release in its' intimate and honest lyrical journey.
Donald Miller is the author of Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What and To Own a Dragon (late 2005) and is currently working with a team of Bible scholars and writers to paraphrase the Bible, with Donald particularly focusing on the letters of Paul. In early 2000, Don released his first book entitled Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance, to be re-released in 2005 as Through Painted Deserts. He is a frequent speaker, focusing on the merit of Christian Spirituality as an explanation for beauty, meaning and the human struggle.
Multi-Platinum and three time GRAMMY Award winning band Jars of Clay launched its career with its hit, 'Flood,' in 1995. Since then, it's amassed more than five million in career sales along with several RIAA certifications (5 Gold, 2 Platinum and 1
Double Platinum) an American
Music Award nod, 17 No.1 radio hits, and numerous film credits and BMI honors for songwriting and performing. Most recently, Jars of Clay was invited to participate in the world's most impactful concert event, Live 8, where they performed before a live audience in Philadelphia of more than 1 million people while the event was broadcast to an estimated 3 billion worldwide.
While celebrated for its music and writing, Jars of Clay is most concerned with the needs in Africa. Compelled to make a difference, members Dan Haseltine, Stephen Mason, Matt Odmark and Charlie Lowell founded the Blood:Water Mission in early 2002. The first effort of this non-profit was the '1000 Wells Project' with a goal of raising funds to build, rebuild and repair 1000 wells in urban and rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. To date, 42 wells have been constructed bringing clean water to more than 34,000 people.
'Redemption Songs & Stories with Jars of Clay and Friends' Tour Dates:
10/6 – Troy, MI – Faith Lutheran Church 10/7 – Midland, MI –
Midland Evangelical Free Church 10/8 – Grand Rapids, MI – Calvin College 10/9 – Racine, WI –
Grace Church 10/13 – Charleston, WV – Clay Center for the Arts 10/14 – Grove City, PA – Grove City College
Arena (Donald Miller) 10/15 – Bloomington, IN – Sherwood Oaks Christian Church (Donald Miller) 10/16 – Chicago, IL – University of IL (Donald Miller) 10/20 – Wilmington, NC – Winter Park Baptist Church 10/22 – Winston-Salem, NC – Reynolds Auditorium 10/23 – Charleston, SC – Charleston AFB – private show for the troops 10/23 – Charleston, SC – Guilliard Auditorium 10/28 – Liberty, MO – Pleasant Valley Baptist 10/29 – Bloomington, IL – Second Presbyterian Church 10/30 –
Orange City, IA – Rowen horst Student Center 10/31 – Des Moines, IA – Valley Church 11/10 – Conway, AR – Woodland Heights Church 11/11 – Strafford, TX – Strafford Civic Center 11/12 – Plano, TX – Fellowship Bible Church North 11/13 – Fort Smith, AR – Stuulefield Center 11/17 – Evansville, IN – Christian Fellowship Church (Donald Miller) 11/18 – Nashville, TN – Youth Specialties - Afternoon 11/18 – Chattanooga, TN – Memorial Auditorium (Donald Miller) 11/19 – Murray, KY – Murray
State Univ (Donald Miller) 11/20 – Birmingham, AL – Samford University (Donald Miller)
(Chris Rice will not be appearing on Donald Miller dates) *all dates subject to change
